I first encountered ASMR, as do most people, as a child. I never knew exactly what it was. I experienced it when certain teachers spoke, during certain TV shows and at the dentist. I didn’t understand the sensation but enjoyed it, and would try and stay very calm and relaxed every time it happened to try and lengthen my experience of it. You can read the full story of how I found ASMR in this post.
You can kind of understand why. To people who don't experience ASMR, the videos can rightly look completely ridiculous. Also, because a sense of intimacy can be a very powerful trigger, it's no surprise that some of the best artists are very attractive girls, and there's clearly some personal security risks when you're putting your face out there and developing strange online relationships with people who might start to rely on a false sense of intimate connection with you.
Sleep and Relax ASMR is a weekly podcast that creates audio experiences designed to help people sleep and relax. The show uses various ASMR triggers including whispers, gentle speaking, relaxing background noise, and general ambiance to help people unwind and relax from their busy lives. Our goal is to create the best ASMR content possible. Whether you enjoy the sound of soothing waves, snow crunching on a mountain, a soft spoken ramble, or whispered storytelling, Sleep and Relax ASMR has your ASMR needs covered. Check out Sleep and Relax ASMR and Friends for more ASMR content. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sleepandrelaxasmr/support.Read more »

The bizarreness of this footage means ASMR isn’t without controversies. In June 2018, the Chinese government banned ASMR videos, branding them “vulgar” and “pornographic”. In August, PayPal began blocking the accounts of ASMRtists who received money to make custom videos (although the company later denied it has a policy against ASMR content). For those who don’t experience ASMR, the videos can seem fetishistic. Beyond the weirdness of whispering and making “mouth sounds” as in Kelly’s honeycomb video, some people nickname ASMR a “brain orgasm”.

I have just found out about ASMR, and never knew there was an actual name for how I became so mesmerised by certain things. I don’t get tingles or anything physical, just get so entranced by the “thing” that nothing else matters, and I end up staring like a hypnotised fool at whatever the trigger has been! haha! Mostly it is aural, like accidental whispering (I don’t enjoy the deliberate whisper videos on Youtube), crinkling of packages (again, accidental, not deliberate), or sometimes it is visual, like someone quietly playing with their hair, or gently rummaging in their bag for something.

2. Do you get rush through the spine and scalp when catching adrenaline? For example, while doing sports and trying to boost myself even further, I watch Zombie pov clips, like this one – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvICHck3PIg, I get huge rush of adrenaline up the spine and neck, because I feel like I’m running in that clip. But I also get peaks of euphoric rush in my head and I scratch the scalp, the crown of the head in circles. It’s definitely not ASMR I am experiencing, but the same thing – scratching the crown of the head is attributed to both, ASMR and this.

It’s not really a physical feeling if that makes sense, but there is a powerful reaction to the sounds nonetheless, to the point where I’m instinctively arching my neck, and a feeling does wash over you that is truly unique, almost addictive. What I don’t fully understand is why my mind chose just now to react when I haven’t had anything close to an ASMR experience before. I’d say that I’ve just found the right trigger, but I’m even reacting to videos that did nothing for me in the past. Like something clicked in my head recently.

I have been experiencing “ASMR” for as long as I can remember. Of course there are certain natural physical or visual triggers, but for me the trigger is a little more esoteric. It can happen at anytime and I generally connect to cognitive thought. I had no idea it had a name. When i am in meditation and i feel a connection with the divine (higher self, whatever anyone chooses to call it) it comes on as a full body buzz. I generally associate it with being aligned to something and getting a thumbs up, or green light to proceed. The absence of ASMR indicates a thumbs down for me, or a red light. So i guess you could say it is a tool of intuition for me. For example, i will have an ASMR top left quadrant of head, within a moment i will hear from someone i have been thinking about or not thinking about. In the beginning it would present only at the top of my crown, now it can originate at forehead or temporal lobes, base of head, etc. i had no idea it had a name until i stumbled on a you tube video and googled ASMR.bdoes anyone else associate it with something non-linear?

She made her first ASMR video in February 2011, filming herself as she leafed through a journal and played with seashells. The video logged just two views in a month, and Maria was so disappointed that she deleted it. A few months later, she tried again; this time, there were a few encouraging comments. She kept at it, and by the end of the year, she had 30,000 subscribers. Nearly three years later, she has more than 300,000.
I’m totally with you in similarity on that. I can get it from reading or watching something profound, and also being engaged in a deep connection with someone. I believe ASMR is the main reason why I used to believe in, and what I used to describe as, my third eye. Like Carlos Cruz, I also get the sensation from music, actually having been utterly attached my whole life to gaining these feelings from listening to music.
Call it a “tingletron”, or a “relaxacet” or something like that if you must, but please don’t call it “orgasmatron” (personally, I think “head massager” or “scalp massager” works just fine). I have one, and yes, I do agree that they are awesome btw. I also find that every time I discover a new massage toy/tool it always triggers me just to look at it.
She has invested in her craft, upgrading to top-notch binaural microphones that carry every exhale into a listener’s ears as if Maria is standing beside them. Her videos, like most ASMR recordings, are undeniably intimate. But the intended response — although often described as “brain orgasms” — is not sexual, ASMR enthusiasts insist. (Unsurprisingly, a few of the creepier online comments insist otherwise.)
Pretty cool… I actually teach something very similar in one of my addiction recovery books; Step 2 “The Next Level …” @ http://www.therealmofdouglas.com basically I show people how to call forth VERY strong emotions in my 5 Step Programming technique (belief modification technique A.K.A. self hypnosis), I can do it at will 24/7 with a very pronounced effect every time. One second at the drop of a dime every time. Interesting to see people experimenting with something very similar… I teach people about will power and how to become a functional personality type instead of an abusive personality type, while they quit using/abusing substances and learn a heck of a lot along the way. But yes in the time it takes to watch this video I could have created literally over 200 emotional responses covering my entire body head to toe with a very pronounced effect each time. It can best be described as a tingling sensation. I am however new to these ASMR videos, but yah very similar stuff. Great video.
Smithsonian: "How Researchers Are Beginning to Gently Probe the Science Behind ASMR" — "The burgeoning Internet phenomenon was so new, it didn’t even have a name. It was so strange and hard to describe that many people felt creepy trying. It resided at the outer edge of respectability: a growing collection of YouTube videos featuring people doing quiet, methodical activities like whispering, turning magazine pages and tapping their fingers. Some viewers reported that these videos could elicit the most pleasurable sensations: a tingling feeling at the scalp and spine, coupled with euphoria and an almost trance-like relaxation.

Bob Ross ALWAYS triggers this response (I have 15+ Joy of Painting episodes saved on my DVR right now). While all the other videos triggered my ASMR somewhat, the Rushka tea one had the most effect. I also like to watch people doing crafts (the sound of scissors cutting construction paper is amazing). Getting a massage or just watching someone get a massage (I can even read the description of spa treatments & have an ASMR response!) I love my hair to be played with too! As you probably know, the list can go on forever!!

Because this phenomenon was only recently given a name, the science backing it up is virtually nonexistent. Of the minimal research, one study published in PeerJ found that ASMR results in “temporary improvements in symptoms of depression and chronic pain,” while another study published in the International Journal of School & Educational Psychology determined that the phenomenon can soothe stress and help insomniacs. Basically, ASMR makes people happy and healthy.

I’m so glad I read these few posts before I commented on my experience, and asked what the best thing may be for me that is non physical. I was a child care provider for 20 years, and the first time I experienced what your describing as an adult, was when one of the babies crawled to my painted toe nails, and started touching my toes very softly. The feeling was so soft, so gentle and she looked so cute with her concentration on those red toe nails lol. The feeling was not sexual in anyway, it felt like love exhaling from my soul, and my head neck and arms felt like goose bumps but very soft and tingly. After that, I found that playing drawing games on our backs with the kids, was how to feel that everyday. Honestly, kids touch sooo gently, they are so naturally innocent, it feels like an angel pacing through your body, and I often would fall asleep with them when we did it at nap time. This feeling of such innocence seems to be a trigger for me. So how do I find that feeling with no human touch? As a child, my mother would put me to sleep with what our family calls “ticky”, its very soft touch with the fingers gliding across your arm or back and neck. It’s a sure way to fall asleep, but how do u get that tingly feeling in your scalp without touch? And I had one of those head massagers before, he’s it felt nice, but nothing like how u can relax from someone else’s touch on your skin so soft it’s like a skin wisper. Sigh, I have no one who gives me human touch. And haven’t for many years now. I feel so alone physically ( not sexual). Sorry for such long note, but I have not slept in weeks, literally, I can’t sleep more than an hour or two, and not until sunup. I’m so physically and mentally exhausted, I cry for God’s help at night. PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS! I need the simplest and fastest suggestions, thanks. Sad Sue xo.

I forgot to mention and may be interesting to people curious about such effects. One "mantra" or intention that I have assimilated in silence and often keep repeating softly inside is "Bless All Beings". There's a famous Sanskrit mantra that basically says the same, but English also works, and may work better for Westerners as intentions need to have meaning, not just repeating syllabuses without understanding or intention.

“I just tried it because I thought it would help out my channel and it did, yeah,” Kelly says of her honeycomb video. When she started her channel in March 2018, Kelly made more traditional YouTube videos – filming herself applying make-up and eating different foreign snacks. “It was exciting,” she says of going viral, “because I was like, this could actually be my dream, I’ve always wanted a lot of subscribers.”
There are some ASMR triggers which you will find reoccur regularly in ASMR videos. Everyone’s personal triggers will vary slightly, what works for other people won’t necessarily work for you. Running through the list of triggers below might help you find new ASMR triggers that you didn’t know about, or hadn’t thought of before. Or if you are not sure whether you experience ASMR yourself, have a look at the list and you should be able to tell by the end. Remember, these are just the most common, and won’t necessarily work for everyone, so don’t worry if they don’t all give you tingles.
So far there have been two scientific studies successfully published, both by researchers based in the UK. The first from Swansea University was published on PeerJ March 26th 2015 entitled ‘Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) – A flow like mental state’ which concluded ‘We have provided the first investigation into the phenomenon of autonomic sensory meridian response (ASMR). ASMR can be induced, in those who are susceptible, by a fairly consistent set of triggers. Given the reported benefits of ASMR in improving mood and pain symptoms, we suggest that ASMR warrants further investigation as a potential therapeutic measure similar to that of meditation and mindfulness’
ASMR is usually precipitated by stimuli referred to as 'triggers'.[11] ASMR triggers, which are most commonly auditory and visual, may be encountered through the interpersonal interactions of daily life. Additionally, ASMR is often triggered by exposure to specific audio and video. Such media may be specially made with the specific purpose of triggering ASMR or originally created for other purposes and later discovered to be effective as a trigger of the experience.[4]